Three Sporting Kansas City Academy alums continued their quest toward a national championship over the weekend in the third round of the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. Junior defender Eric DeJulio started and played the full 90 minutes for Creighton in a 2-1 victory over Xavier, while North Carolina also advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 2-1 win at Clemson. Forward Zach Wright made a second-half appearance for the Tar Heels, whose roster also features fellow freshman Andy Lopez.
CREIGHTON 2, XAVIER 1
After playing to a 1-1 draw in the regular season, the Bluejays got the best of their BIG EAST rivals on Sunday by a 2-1 scoreline to improve to 16-3-2 on the season. Creighton's .810 winning percentage in 2014 is the best in NCAA Division I men's soccer and is due in large part to a defense, anchored by DeJulio, that has conceded only 11 goals in 21 games for a 0.51 goals against average that ranks second in the country. After appearing in 20 combined games as a freshman and sophomore, DeJulio has started all 21 games for Creighton this season and leads the team with 1,933 minutes played.
Creighton -- the tournament's No. 12 overall seed and ranked No. 9 in the country -- will next host Maryland-Baltimore County at 7 p.m. CT on Friday at Morrison Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska. The quarterfinal appearance is the school's 10th since 2000 and third in the past four years.
NORTH CAROLINA 2, CLEMSON 1
Yesterday's ACC postseason encounter was a rematch of North Carolina's 3-2 double overtime win in October, a game in which Wright scored his first collegiate goal to spark the Tar Heels comeback after falling behind 2-0 in the first half. Clemson had home field advantage for the rematch on Sunday but could not slow down UNC's high-powered offense, which leads the nation with 49 goals to date in 2014. Wright made a brief second-half appearance before suffering a groin strain, while Lopez remains sidelined with an injury.
North Carolina -- unseeded in the NCAA tournament but ranked No. 16 in the country with a 15-5-1 record -- will now proceed to the program's sixth quarterfinal appearance in the last seven years. The Tar Heels will face No. 2 seed UCLA at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday in Los Angeles. The two teams previously met on Aug. 31 with UCLA prevailing 1-0 in the Carolina Nike Classic.
Quarterfinal winners will advance to the Men’s College Cup, to be held Dec. 12 and 14 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. Visit NCAA.com for the full bracket and live coverage throughout the tournament. Additional Sporting KC Academy news can be found via the Academy news section, Academy blog or by following@SKCAcademy on Twitter and Instagram.
